Las Vegas: Palms to redo hotel rooms

by Anthony Curtis - Aug. 3, 2012 04:00 PMSpecial for The Republic

A renovation at the Palms is moving to the hotel rooms, where $12 million will be spent to upgrade all 428 units in the original Palms Tower. The project should be completed by September, and a renovation of 253 rooms in the Fantasy Tower is expected in 2013.

The transformation of the sports book into a new, ultrasleek version with an adjoining poker room has just been completed. It's also been announced that the Mexican restaurant Garduño's is closing to make way for a new sports-themed restaurant called Heraea.

Work done over the past year combined with plans still on the drawing board adds up to $50 million in improvements to the 11-year-old resort.

New sign: The former Las Vegas Hilton has a new marquee. The sign, blank since the Hilton name came down earlier this year, now bears the resort's new name, LVH.

New name: Stratta restaurant, named for Wynn Las Vegas' former superchef Alex Stratta, has finally been renamed. It's now Allegro, serves dinner and stays open until 6 a.m.

Lunch on the Strip: The high-end steak house Smith & Wollensky, on the south Strip just north of MGM Grand, is running a strong deal called Summer Social Hour. From 2 to 7 p.m. weekdays, everything on the bar menu is buy one, get one free. Big burgers, barbecued shrimp, crab cakes and more average $8 per on this offer; draft Fosters are $4.

Question: Is it true that casinos no longer allow betting on horse racing?

Answer: Contract problems between casino sports books and the company that provides the means for making the bets and watching the races threatened to curtail race betting. But both parties agreed to a three-week extension, so racing continues as the talks progress.

For information about shows, buffets, coupons and deals, go to www.Las VegasAdvisor.com.

New terminal for some Vegas flights

Travelers flying out of Las Vegas should be aware: Their planes might be leaving from a new terminal.

Officials at McCarran International Airport say Alaska, Frontier, JetBlue, Sun Country and Virgin America are now operating out of the new Terminal 3.

The $2.4 billion terminal has been open since late June, but only to foreign airlines. McCarran officials say shifting some domestic airlines there will ease congestion in Terminal 1.

Officials have installed electronic signs over roadways leading into the airport to guide drivers to the proper terminal.